Hays Salary Guides 2009

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Thanks to a comment from a reader, I got to know about the Hays 2009 Salary Guides.

After browsing through some of these guides, I personally think the salary ranges are on the high side, especially when the footnotes say “salaries are representative of the total package value, although exclude any annual bonus.”

Here’s a sampling of some of the salary ranges in the Hays Salary Guides:

  1. MNC Financial Controller – $200k to 270k
  2. Private Equity Senior Analyst – $180k to $250k
  3. Global Markets Trader – $83k to $150k
  4. Risk VP (Banking) – $150k to $220k
  5. Front Office Database Developer (Finance) – $90k to $140k
  6. Front Office Quantitative Developer (Finance) – $190k to $280k
  7. Project Manager (Finance Technology) – $130k to $190k
  8. IT Client Relationship Manager – $150k to $260k
  9. J2EE Senior Analyst Programmer – $48k to $60k
  10. DBA – $80k to $130k
  11. IT Development Team Leader – $90k to $200k
  12. IT Development Manager – $150k to $260k
  13. IT Sales Director – $200k to $350k
  14. IT Presales Manager – $130k to $250k
  15. Lawyer in Private Practice 6 Years PQE – $140k to $250k
  16. Inhouse Lawyer 8 Years PQE – $400k to $450k
  17. Human Resource (HR) Head – $150k to $400k
  18. HR Compensation & Benefits Manager – $100k to $300k
  19. Marketing Director – $170k to $250k
  20. National Sales Director – $200k to $350k
  21. Sales & Marketing Country Manager – $300k to $450k
  22. Architect with 5-10 Years Experience – $84k to $120k
  23. Civil Engineering Senior Project Manager – $120k to $180k
  24. Oil & Gas Planning Manager – $180k+
  25. Oil & Gas Offshore Construction Project Director – $300k+

Do you think the Hays’ salary figures are high, low, or just right?

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32 Comments

  1. My guess is that salary guides provided by recruitment agencies like Hays use numbers that are artificially inflated. They can write whatever they want, since they themselves come up with the report, and it’s not audited by anyone else.

    They need to give you jaw-dropping figures, so that you will question your current pay in your current position, and engage them for their services.

    Frankly, I will only trust salary surveys done by the government, NGOs or other neutral parties without any ulterior motives. Unfortunately, very rarely do you come across a report like that.

  2. yup renumeration stated is fair..and our counterparts in HK are raking in more at the expense of their health.

  3. Probably the numbers here are more for the expat execs who get a better package and don’t have to pay CPF…

  4. I think this was purposely made higher. So people who read will demand from boss or switch job.. This will be good for Head hunters..

  5. Real Pay Consultant on

    Look, Hays is a RECRUITMENT company.
    It is in the general interest of recruitment companies to place individuals with HIGH PAY vs someone who is paid significantly less as they are generally paid on salary multiples of the people they place.

    Think about it.

  6. Real Pay Consultant on

    … one more thing.
    Hays (with an “s”) should NOT be confused with Hay, who have a better claim at being pay consultants…

  7. To Real Pay Consultant: so what are the real pay ranges? Does Hay (without “s”) publish their own salary guides?

  8. in the know2 on

    hey, dont u guys look for jobs thru recruitment companies, that source for you jobs with DECENT pay vs LOW PAY ??

  9. In most total package, it includes medical, insurance, retirement (CPF in SG’s case), other perks (housing, car etc) which leads me to think the numbers are very reasonable.

  10. They should define “total package”. To make things absolutely clear, they should publish “gross annual pay”, which means monthly gross pay (excludes employer’s CPF) x 12.
    Otherwise it’s just hard to compare “total package”, as benefits vary across companies.
    People mainly care about the cash that goes into their pockets, which can be derived from gross pay easily.

  11. sounds like you made it on

    Ranges are a good indication. It is not possible to tabulate total packages inclusive of soft benefits. Some companies provide company cars, transport and chauffeur, maids, housing allowances, options, RSU, baby bonuses, country clubs memberships etc, if you are at D/C level; and when you are at that level, you will know what you are entitled to and which band you are at. =)

  12. the pay looks alright to me. these are international pay scale. For those of you who compete with talents on an international level, the pay is about there. These are not expatriate package.

  13. Real Pay Consultant on

    real pay: Yes “Hay” does publish surveys.

    Hate to say it, but to expand on superman’s point… yes, these are reasonable for jobs who compete for international talent.

    Most people (myself included 😉 have to realise that this means an experience set that is not only great from a “worked for which brand-name company” perspective, but also from a “performed at an incredible level of performance” level (alternatively could be “has worked long enough to be evenybody’s grandfather”).

    In the SG context, this is maybe 1 in 500 people.

    I also think they got the numbers for in-house and practicing lawyer reversed.

  14. Having engaged with such recruitment agencies and having seen a slightly more relevant, but equally suspect, pay survey from HR management firms, I will tell you that these may not always be real pay and is more the budget amount that the various companies are willing to pay for the role. For example, I am quite sure they got the Inhouse Lawyer 8 Years PQE right because the company is asking for someone with an AP region focus. Whether they did find the right hire or not, I am not so sure though. And if the right candidate come along asking for 250k, I do not think they will up it to 400k just to say company pay market rates.

    Bottomline, it gives the commoner a glimpse of what pay you can technically achieve (in 2008,bc as opposed to 2009 ac, before and after crisis) if you are in the right place at the right time with the right recruiter for the right company. For the stastician in us, it is just showing us the end of the long right tail.

  15. all the rights.. nicely said and placed… it is also dependent on how much you know about the industry you are in, how much you are worth and how much you are willing to accept.

  16. bankingsector on

    agree with James and in the know… the salaries stated for the trading and risk professions in banking look about right.

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  19. I am a foreigner currently working in Singapore. I had an engagement with Hays and was offered a role with one of the big MNC banks here in Singapore. The salary offered was nowhere close to what’s written in the salary report. I didn’t take the position and instead took an internal transfer. A good rule of thumb I think is to apply a 20 to 25 percent discount and you would be close to the real number.

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